Corpse Pony

“This place… it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Starlight Glimmer poked her head out of the small living room in which she found herself. The light of the lone candle they’d found inside the living room shone down the length of each hallway, or at least, what should have been a hallway. The floor outside the door was little more than a black hole that dropped into the darkness far beyond the candle’s light could reach, as if their little room was a single section of safety they could hide upon from the gnawing abyss waiting for them outside. She would try to levitate them out of there, but her magic was not working.

“Maybe it’s some kinda game!” Pinkie Pie’s jovial voice exclaimed behind her. “We’ve just gotta solve a riddle!”

“This would be a really elaborate game, Pinkie Pie.” Starlight turned to face inside again. The room in which they found themselves was only barely holding itself together. The walls looked like they had begun to crumble long ago, and the floor was dotted with holes, though thankfully the floor that remained felt solid enough. Almost everypony who had been in the room with them was nowhere to be found. Starlight had opened her eyes to find herself alone with Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo, who was huddled in a feathery ball between two rotting chairs.

“Hey, Scootaloo…” Starlight Glimmer approached the young Pegasus with an attempt at a caring smile. She really wasn’t good with kids. “You’re a Pegasus, right? Do you think you could fly out there and see what’s past that big hole?”

“N-no…” Scootaloo shook her head slowly. “Even if I could fly, I don’t think I could…”

Starlight cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“You don’t feel it? Something’s really different… like there’s something missing inside of me.” Starlight didn’t want to admit it, but she could feel it too. She had spent most of her life relying on her unicorn magic to see her through, not being able to use it left a hole deep inside of her soul. She had felt it even before she’d tried it, but only not that Scootaloo mentioned it did she recognize why. “We can’t get out…”

Starlight opened her mouth to comfort the filly, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard what sounded like an explosion behind her. She whirled to see Pinkie Pie standing beside a brand new hole in the wall beside the door, with her party cannon clutched between two hooves. “Oops!” Pinkie giggled. “I was trying to cheer her up, but I guess I loaded the cheese instead of the confetti earlier. Sorry!”

“Pinkie!” Starlight whirled on her in amazement. “You’re a genius!”

“But I made a mistake…”

“If we can’t get out through the door we’ll have to get out through a wall, then we can find the others and figure out how to get home!” Starlight turned to grin down at the cowering Pegasus. “See? Never give up hope, kid! That’s what Rainbow Dash would tell you right now!”

Scootaloo looked down, then looked up at her with a ghost of a smile and climbed to her hooves. “Yeah… that’s exactly what Rainbow Dash would say!”

Starlight whirled dramatically towards Pinkie. “Pinkie, load another cheese round! We’re busting out of here!”

“Aye-aye!” Pinkie gave the two of them a grinning salute and turned to tend to her most prized possession.

As the silence fell over them Starlight’s ear twitched and turned towards the other side of the room, where the candle’s light couldn’t reach. Starlight’s eyes followed suit, though she could barely even tell what was drawing her attention. It sounded like a high pitched squeaking noise, coming and then going, like a metallic heartbeat. It was so soft she thought she was imagining it, but she through that thought out the window as it grew louder still.

“Starlight?” Scootaloo moved to stand beside her. “What’s that sound?”

“Almost sounds like…” Starlight Glimmer scrunched her face as she searched her brain for the familiar sound. It dawned on her several moments later. “Scissors.”

She gasped and took a hasty step towards Pinkie as a blue mist began to form in the darkness. It coalesced together into the shape of a mare as it lurched towards them, on legs that appeared to be broken in several places. One crooked and gnarled limb held a pair of scissors in one limp hoof, which were opening and closing in rhythm with the pony’s motions. Starlight could hear a gurgling noise from the pony’s twisted throat, as its still, dead eyes somehow latched onto Starlight’s and refused to move away.

“Starlight, what is that?” Scootaloo scrambled to get away from the creature, though there was not much space to retreat.

“H-hello…” Starlight gulped. “C-can we… help you? Are you… lost?” Starlight backed away from the gurgling apparition. It became quickly clear that conversation would be futile as it continued its labored approach. The scissors bobbed up and down in its hoof, opening and closing, snipping at the air as it made a straight line towards Starlight. “Pinkie, load the cannon, load the Celestia-damned cannon!”

“And it’s done!” Pinkie Pie whirled the cannon around with a dramatic flourish. “Where are we firing it?”

“At the wall, we have to get to the next room!” Starlight insisted.

“But is there a room over there?” Scootaloo asked. “I don’t know the palace very well! This is my first time here!” Starlight swore under her breath. She didn’t know the palace very well either. The few times she had come to visit Sunburst she had stayed at his place. And even if there was another room, who knew if there was a way out of that either?

“Oh! Maybe she can help us!” Pinkie leapt in front of the cannon to wave to the approaching apparition. “Hello ma’am! We’re a little lost and need to get to-whoa!”

Starlight yanked Pinkie back to the cannon by her tail. “I don’t think she’s in a friendly mood! Quick, fire at the outer wall! We can be sure to get out of the room that way!” Starlight whirled the cannon around to aim the barrel straight at the wall opposite the door.

“Cheese’s away, captain!” Pinkie yanked the chord on her party cannon, and the cheese exploded from its barrel. Smoke billowed from the barrel’s end with a thunderous crash, and less than a second later a massive chunk of stone vanished from the wall, flapping out into the open air beyond in several large chunks. “Launch successful!”

Starlight ran to stick her head out the somewhat small hole. Strangely, while it was still raining outside, none of the water managed to hit the side of the crystal palace around them. This was because there were several landings and balconies on the wall above them, blocking the rain from hitting the window or the balconies below. For a brief moment she wondered how this was physically possible… but then she realized what it was.

Even outdoors, and this high up, there was no wind at all. The rain was just falling straight down without deviation, as if the atmosphere itself was decayed.

“Starlight, she’s closing in on us!” Scootaloo backed into Starlight’s flank with a nervous squeak.

“It’s fine, we’re leaving!” Starlight yanked her head back inside. “You go first, Scootaloo. You’re the smallest. It looks like there a balcony right below us, climb down to it. Pinkie and I will be right behind you!”

“O-okay!” Starlight helped Scootaloo climb up the side of the wall and slip her smaller body through the hole, where she grunted and turned to face the wall as she made her way down out of sight.

Starlight’s eyes slowly lost focus when she heard the shuddering hoofsteps behind her cease, and the sound of a wet, gurgling grunt coming from inches behind her head. Slowly Starlight looked back over her shoulder, as the mangled foreleg raised the scissors up high before her. Starlight barely had time to takes in a deep breath before the scissors came down in a silvery arc through the light let in by the hole in the wall.

Just barely did Starlight’s central barrel manage to clear the weapon, though it did still cut cleanly through the flesh on her left side. Starlight stumbled through the room away from her assailant, leaving behind a small trickle of blood on the once-pristine crystal floor.

“Starlight Glimmer!” Pinkie exclaimed worriedly. “Are you okay!?”

“Go, Pinkie! Follow Scootaloo! I’ll come once you’re clear.” Starlight backed away from the spirit, staring into its eyes to make sure it would follow her.

“But I… mmnh… okay…” Pinkie gave her friend one more panicked glance then dove for the window herself. Her much more plump body wedged into the hole with a heavy thwuk sound, and she began wiggling her butt back and forth to inch herself outside.

Starlight backed away from the spirit before her, gritting her teeth. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The creature just gurgled back and continued its single-minded pursuit. Realizing communicating was futile, Starlight slowly circled with her eyes locked on the now blood-tipped pair of scissors in the broken hoof. At last, she saw Pinkie’s butt vanish out the hole in the wall, and her fluffy mane vanished from sight.

“I don’t know who you are… but stay away from me and my friends!” Starlight suddenly broke off to the right and whipped around the apparition. She galloped as fast as she could towards the hole, and flung herself into it. Like Pinkie her body plugged the hole neatly, sending a piercing shot of pain rising through her body as the gash on her flank rubbed into the stone wall.

She began to wiggle her way through as fast as she could, ignoring the pain, but she could hear the scissors once again snapping open and closed inside, growing closer by the moment.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

She couldn’t see the apparition approaching, but in her mind it was already almost to her legs. “Come oonnnn!” Starlight shoved at the wall with her forelegs and kicked with her hindlegs as fast as she could. She could feel her body moving, inch by painstaking inch. The scissors were getting so loud she felt like they were pressed against her ear, but even more terrifying was when she heard the scissors stop snipping.

“Rrraaaaaaahhhhh!” With a howl of pain and frustration, Starlight managed to yank her hind legs free from the hole, but she was so eager to get out that she didn’t grab the wall. Her body plummeted downward without warning. She didn’t even have time to yell before her body met Pinkie’s halfway down, and they both tumbled the rest of the way to the balcony below, where they landed in a tangle of limbs and hair with a sharp, pained grunt.

“Holy crap!” Scootaloo trotted to their side with a panicked look on her face. “Are you okay!? Please tell me you’re okay!”

“I’m fine…” Starlight shook her head slowly. “Pinkie?”

“I’m gooooood.” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air from below Starlight weakly before letting it fall to the floor again. “Just a little pain, I can walk it off…”

“Whew…” Scootaloo heaved a deep sigh of relief. “I was so afraid you two were gonna…”

“Hey.” Starlight reached up from the floor to pat Scootaloo’s head. “We’re not leaving you alone here, kiddo.”

“Heh…” Scootaloo smiled.

Starlight sat up, lifting herself from Pinkie’s body and resting her forehooves on the ground. She blinked when she saw her tail spring up behind her, a tiny stub of hair only a few inches long. She shook off the implications of this and tried to stand, but the pain that went racing through her body drove her to the floor again.

“Aaaugh!”

“Starlight Glimmer, you’re hurt!” Pinkie sprang to her feet and knelt down beside her. “We need to find the doctor’s office.”

“Is there a doctor’s office in the palace?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, there is.” Starlight nodded, speaking through gritted teeth. “The royal family uses it for their routine checkups.”

“There must be bandages there. Come on.” Pinkie helped lift Starlight to her hooves, letting the wounded pony lean against her for support. Even Scootaloo moved underneath Starlight Glimmer to lift her torso from below.

“Heh… thanks, you guys…” Starlight couldn’t help but smile as, with the help of her friends, the three of them made their way back inside the palace. There had to be some kind of bandages around here they could use to stop the bleeding, at the very least, and she knew with her friends at her side they would be able to find them.